NCAA semifinal action will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. An MSU-only stream is available on ESPN+. Olympians John Roethlisberger (play-by-play), Aly Raismain and Samantha Peszek (analysts) will be on the call.
NOTABLES
MSU punched its ticket to the national championships with a second-place finish behind LSU at the NCAA University Park Regional Final, scoring a 198.000. The Spartans narrowly missed out on defeating the defending national champion Tigers, who scored a 198.050 in the regional final to secure their trip to Fort Worth. MSU’s 198.000 was the third-best score among the four regional finals behind Oklahoma’s 198.450 in the Seattle Regional and LSU.
MSU broke its team vault record for the second time this season with a 49.650 in the regional final, with all five counting scores at a 9.900 or better, including a pair of 9.950s from juniors Nikki Smith and Sage Kellerman. The Spartans also scored a 49.575 to tie their second-highest team bars score for the second time this season.
Individually, senior Gabrielle Stephen captured the all-around, vault and co-bars titles at the University Park Regional. Stephen earned her first 10.000 on vault and second perfect score in as many meets after scoring a 10.000 on beam at the Big Ten Championships two weeks prior. She also scored a 9.950 on bars and a career-high 39.750 in the all-around, which was the second-highest all-around score in program history. In the regional final, Smith tallied the top vault (9.950), bars (9.975) and all-around scores (39.650).
Stephen was named the WCGA Central Region Gymnast of the Year after her regionals performance, becoming the first-ever MSU gymnast to win the award. Head coach Mike Rowe was named regional head coach of the year for the second time in his career, while assistants Nicole Jones and Devin Wright earned regional assistant of the year nods.
SCOUTING THE SEMIFINAL FIELD
MSU has faced two of the teams in its semifinal, UCLA and LSU, this season. The Spartans’ only meeting with LSU came in the regional final, while MSU is 0-2 against the Bruins in 2025. MSU fell in a narrow 197.300-197.200 contest at UCLA on Feb. 1 this season before finishing second behind the Bruins at the Big Ten Championships in March, 198.450-198.150.
Since the start of the 2024 season, the Spartans have met with each of the NCAA Championships qualifying teams at least once. In addition to LSU and UCLA in the Spartans’ semifinal, MSU has also faced two teams from the first semifinal this season in Alabama and Florida. The Gators edged out the Spartans, 196.675-196.650 in a quad meet in Gainesville on Jan. 10 this season, while MSU finished second ahead of third-place Alabama at Elevate the Stage, 197.150-196.875 on March 9.
The Spartans faced the remaining four championship teams last season, finishing fourth in the 2024 NCAA Gainesville Regional final behind Florida, Utah and Missouri. MSU last met Oklahoma in its 2024 season opener at the Super 16, where the Spartans finished third and Oklahoma won the meet.
UP NEXT
The top two teams from MSU’s semifinal will advance to the NCAA Championships Final, Four on the Floor, on Saturday, April 19 at 4 p.m. ET on ABC, joining the top two teams from the first semifinal featuring No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Missouri and Alabama. Individual event winners and NCAA All-Americans will be determined after the second semifinal on Thursday.
